


Floriography

by notabadday



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-18
Updated: 2013-07-18
Packaged: 2017-12-20 15:07:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/888685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notabadday/pseuds/notabadday
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It is the anniversary of the day Donna first started working for Josh. Well, one of them. (Post-canon)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Floriography

Donna stirred from a shallow sleep on the sofa to the sound of her phone ringing. She blearily reached around for it, trying to get her bearings in the land of the living. The screen lit up brightly, far too brightly, with a picture taken on her wedding day. “Hello?”

 “Donna.”

 “You know, when you call me at 9.30pm on date night, not just date night but our anniversary, I take it as a bad sign.”

 “I’ve always thought you were very astute.”

 “Josh.” She moaned, disappointed at the implication.

 “I’m sorry. Truly. I want to be here even less than you want me to be here. I’ll make it up to you on our wedding anniversary, or the—” his voice dropped a few decibels, “—sex anniversary.”

 “Josh, I know better than to expect your attention on Election Day beyond some early afternoon delight but I appreciate the sentiment. I love you anyway.”

 “Can we pretend the next time I see you is our anniversary?”

 “Yes, that sounds like a nice idea. The sex won’t be as good though.”

 “I guess marriage is about compromise after all.” Josh heard her laugh lightly in response, on the other end of the line.

 “Will I see anything of you tonight?” She soothingly moved her hand in gentle circles over the bump of her midriff, trying not to get too optimistic.

 “I’m not sure. Probably not, the way things are looking at the moment. You’d be surprised at how difficult it’s proving to reauthorize an act that’s worked effectively since 1994 to protect women from domestic violence.”

 “I’m _not_ surprised. I worked in that building long enough to know not to be surprised by anything, no matter how black and white it may seem. Makes me sad, though. And suddenly date night seems very, very trivial.”

 “I’m sorry. Timing’s just worked out really badly for this to be tonight. It’s the first frustrating late night I’ve had in a while though, in my defense. I’m surprised you’re not sick of the sight of me, Mrs Lyman.”

 “You know, Josh, when I’m old and decrepit, the number one person I’ll wish I’d spent more time with will be you: the person I spend the _most_ time with. You don’t have to worry about that.”

 “I wish I could spend tonight with you,” he replied, affectionately.

 “Yeah,” Donna sighed. “Oh! I got the flowers, by the way. They made me smile. I love them. Thank you, honey.”

 “Glad you like them.”

 “Yeah. Hey, can I ask you a question?” Donna asked, cautiously.

 “Yeah.”

 “You know, umm, you’ve never got me _red_ roses.”

 There was a long pause before Josh replied, “That’s not a question.”

 “No, but how come?”

 “Why is that so odd?”

 “Because you’re a romantic, deep down. Secret’s out. And it’s a romantic occasion. I feel like I’ve had a rainbow of roses over the years, and yet never a red one. I was thinking about it just because, in the language of flowers, red roses mean true love…”

 “The language of flowers?”

 “Floriography. Yes.”

 “You like pink, though. And yellow. I was just being thoughtful, I thought.”

 “Sorry. I don’t mean to pick at you. The flowers are beautiful. All the bouquets have been beautiful. I just thought it was odd is all. Red roses are so traditional, and most of the time, so are you.” Anxiety crept into Donna’s voice as her talking suddenly sped up. Josh was silent, giving her no clue as to how much offense he might have taken. “I feel mean now. I love you. I love you and your colorful flowers. Now, hurry up and do good work so you can come home to your horny, pregnant wife, ‘kay?”

 “Love you. I’ll be home late so don’t stay up and wait. I’ll try not to wake you when I get in.”

 "Okay, but do come home tonight.”

 “I will. See you later.”

 “Love you. Bye.”

 At 3am, Josh returned to Casa Lyman to find Donna lying across their bed, limbs in all directions. She looked frankly ridiculous, in a way that he found utterly endearing. He grinned at her while trying to figure out the best thing to do. Maybe there was just enough space in a corner for him to curl up.

 Having exhaustedly pulled off the un-ironed suit that he’d thrown together for work and found a clean white t-shirt, Josh crawled into the small space that was left on the bed, attempting not to wake his wife. He was unsuccessful.

 “Babe?” Donna moaned, half-asleep.

 “Go back to sleep, honey.”

 She ignored him, moving her leg from his side of the bed and allowing for him to move over a little before cuddling against him. She let out a contented sigh, still with her eyes closed. Josh kissed the top of her head, resisting the urge to be a little more affectionate.

 “Thanks for coming home.”

 “Well, you’re here, so…” There was an extended silence before Josh spoke again. “Donna?”

 “Mmm?”

 “You know you were asking about the flowers, the… uh, the roses?”

 “Mmm.”

 “There’s a reason I’ve never bought you red roses. Well, it’s not strictly true. I did… I did buy you a bouquet of red roses once but I never had the opportunity to give them to you. It was my ‘Gather Ye Rosebuds’ moment and it was in Germany, after… after Gaza. I got back to the hospital, and that’s when you had the pulmonary embolism.” He felt her stiffen in his arms, but she didn’t interrupt him. He swallowed before continuing. “I don’t even remember what happened to those flowers in all that… but, I just… I never wanted to be reminded of that. But I wanted you to know that I did once get you red roses, Donna, and that there was a reason it’s not happened since… because, well, you know you’re my true love. Of course you are. Even if I don’t say it in the language of the flowers, I can say it in our language anytime you need to hear it. Okay?”

 He felt her head move up and down against his chest before she buried her face there. After a moment, she reached for his hand and looked up at his face. Josh smiled affectionately at her, before they moved to share a brief, sleepy kiss.

 Before long, they were asleep.

 Donna managed to sleep until 10am. Josh had long gone to work, which Donna was used to, but she still gave a light sigh of disappointment. She looked to the bedside table to notice a vase of flowers, with a note stuck to it. They were not the yellow roses that Josh had given Donna the day before. She reached for the note, curiously.

 “Donna, I looked into it and couldn’t find a single flower that expressed fully how I feel. Even the red roses wouldn’t really scratch the surface. I chose these, though, as an indication. I love you and I cherish the day you walked into my life. Happy anniversary.”

 They were red and purple tulips. Love: forever and undying, Donna thought to herself. She smiled, holding the note to her heart.

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is always appreciated. Thanks for reading.


End file.
